STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - The 22-year-old son of a Huguenot crane owner who was acquitted last year of criminal charges in a fatal 2008 crane collapse has again been arrested, this time on drug and weapons charges.

Police arrested James Lomma, 22, on the corner of Bay Street and Victory Boulevard in Tompkinsville at 1 a.m., after they caught him with brass knuckles clipped to his belt, and 25 decks of heroin in his jacket pocket, court papers allege.

It's the latest in a string of arrests for Lomma dating to his teenage years, and the most recent since he was busted at his home on the 100 block of Collyer Avenue last October on charges he possessed a variety of prescription pills and illegal narcotics.

"I need to change my lifestyle. I thought the brass knuckles were legal. I bought them in New Jersey," Lomma told police, according to a law enforcement source.

In December, Lomma pleaded guilty to seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance to resolve the October case, in exchange for a six-month license suspension, a conditional discharge and $250 in court fees.

Lomma faced charges of third- and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, as well as fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with Monday's arrest, according to information from District Attorney Daniel Donovan's office.

He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance at his arraignment in Stapleton Criminal Court Monday, and he's slated to return for sentencing on May 7.

In April 2012, the elder Lomma, also named James, was acquitted of manslaughter and all other charges stemming from a May 30, 2008, crane collapse on 50th Street near Second Avenue in Manhattan that killed two men, including Grant City native Donald Leo, 30, who was operating the 200-foot-tall construction crane when it snapped in two.

Leo was killed, as was a 27-year-old sewer company worker on the ground.

Prosecutors said the crane fell because Lomma had gotten a bargain-basement welding job to repair the crane's turntable, which lets the upper parts of the rig swivel, while Lomma's defense blamed the accident on operator error.